The 1908 News of the World Match Play was the sixth News of the World Match Play tournament. It was played from Tuesday 6 to Thursday 8 October at Mid-Surrey Golf Club. 32 players competed in a straight knock-out competition, with each match contested over 18 holes, except for the final which was over 36 holes. The winner received £100 out of a total prize fund of £240. J.H. Taylor defeated Fred Robson by 2 holes in the final to win the tournament.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 6–8 October 1908 |
| Location | Richmond, London, England |
| Course(s) | Mid-Surrey Golf Club |
| Organised by | The PGA |
| Format | Match play – 18 holes (Final 36 holes) |
| Statistics | |
| Field | 32 players |
| Prize fund | £240 |
| Winner's share | £100 |
| Champion | |
 J.H. Taylor | |
| def. Fred Robson 2 up | |
Qualification
editEntry was restricted to members of the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA). Qualification was by a series of 36-hole stroke-play competitions; one for each of the six PGA sections. The Southern section had 14 qualifiers, the Northern section 7, the Midland and the Scottish sections 4, the Irish section 2 and the Welsh section 1. Compared to 1907 there was one extra qualifier for the Northern section and one less for Welsh section. In the event of a tie for places there was a playoff.
The qualifiers were:
- Irish section: James Edmundson, Harry Kidd
- Midland section: Willie Aveston, George Coburn, Jack Oke, Tom Williamson
- Northern section: Tom Ball, Tom Beck, Sandy Herd, Ted Ray, Thomas Renouf, Fred Robson, Tom Watt
- Southern section: James Batley, James Bradbeer, James Braid, Ernest Gray, Rowland Jones, Arnaud Massy, Charles Mayo, Jack Rowe, James Sherlock, J.H. Taylor, Albert Tingey, Sr., Harry Vardon, Tom Vardon, Reg Wilson
- Scottish section: Willie Binnie, Willie Fernie, Charles Neaves, Ben Sayers
- Welsh section: Syd Ball
Format
editThe format was unchanged. Matches were over 18 holes except for the final which was over 36 holes. Extra holes were played in the event of a tied match. Two rounds were played on the first day, two more on the second day with the final on the third day.
Results
edit| First round 6 October | Second round 6 October | Third round 7 October | Semi-finals 7 October | Final 8 October | |||||||||||||||
 Harry Vardon
| 7&6 | ||||||||||||||||||
 Charles Neaves
| Harry Vardon
| 3&1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Jack Rowe
| Jack Oke
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Jack Oke
| 1up | Harry Vardon
| |||||||||||||||||
| Tom Beck
| Charles Mayo
| 4&3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Charles Mayo
| 6&5 | Charles Mayo
| 4&2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Reg Wilson
| Tom Williamson
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Tom Williamson
| 4&2 | Charles Mayo
| |||||||||||||||||
| Syd Ball
| Fred Robson
| 3&1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Ben Sayers
| 3&2 | Ben Sayers
| 2&1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Sandy Herd
| Tom Vardon
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Tom Vardon
| 19h | Ben Sayers
| |||||||||||||||||
| Fred Robson
| 3&2 | Fred Robson
| 1up | ||||||||||||||||
| Albert Tingey, Sr.
| Fred Robson
| 2&1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Tom Ball
| 4&3 | Tom Ball
| |||||||||||||||||
 Arnaud Massy
| Fred Robson
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Tom Watt
| J.H. Taylor
| 2up | |||||||||||||||||
| Rowland Jones
| 1up | Rowland Jones
| |||||||||||||||||
| Willie Fernie
| James Sherlock
| 4&3 | |||||||||||||||||
| James Sherlock
| w/o | James Sherlock
| 1up | ||||||||||||||||
 Willie Aveston
| Thomas Renouf
| ||||||||||||||||||
 Harry Kidd
| 3&2 | Harry Kidd
| |||||||||||||||||
| George Coburn
| Thomas Renouf
| 5&3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Thomas Renouf
| 5&4 | James Sherlock
| |||||||||||||||||
| J.H. Taylor
| 2&1 | J.H. Taylor
| 3&2 | ||||||||||||||||
| James Braid
| J.H. Taylor
| 2up | |||||||||||||||||
| Ted Ray
| 3&1 | Ted Ray
| |||||||||||||||||
| James Batley
| J.H. Taylor
| 3&1 | |||||||||||||||||
| James Edmundson
| Ernest Gray
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Ernest Gray
| 2&1 | Ernest Gray
| 2&1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Willie Binnie
| 3&1 | Willie Binnie
| |||||||||||||||||
| James Bradbeer
| |||||||||||||||||||
w/o = Walkover
Prize money
editThe winner received £100 and a gold medal, the runner-up £30 and a silver medal, the losing semi-finalists £15 and a bronze medal, while the third round losers received £10 and the second round losers received £5.
References
edit- ^ "The News of the World tournament – The Draw". The Times. 29 September 1908. p. 13.
- ^ "Golf – Professional tournament at Richmond – Some sensational results". The Glasgow Herald. 7 October 1908. p. 14.
- ^ "Golf – The £240 tournament – Exciting games at Richmond". The Glasgow Herald. 8 October 1908. p. 13.
- ^ "Golf – The £240 tournament – Taylor beats Robson after an exciting match". The Glasgow Herald. 9 October 1908. p. 12.